Daniel Defoe: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 12:15, 22 January 2014

c.1659 – 24 April 1731. English writer, journalist, pamphleteer, today mainly known as author of one of the first English novels, Robinson Crusoe (1719).

Early life

Daniel Defoe was born circa 1659 in London. His father was a tallow chandler belonging to the so-called Dissenters and sent his son to study at a so-called Dissenting Academy at Newenton Green kept by the Reverend Charles Morton. There Daniel Defoe received an extensive education. Although they wanted him to serve the Presbyterian ministry, Defoe refused this and decided to work as merchant. In this period he traveled a lot in trading.

During this time, he went through a series of setbacks. In 1692 he went bankrupt due to the losses for insuring ships during the war with France, although he had been honest with his debtors he was reported to be persecuted following imprisonment.

He married Mary Tuffley in 1684, the daughter of a Dissenting merchant. They were married for 47 years (until Defoe´s death) and they had a total of eight children.

Turn to politics

Defoe´s interest in politics had been growing the last years so he started to write pamphlets, the first one published dating from 1683. He was reported to have joined the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth and managed to escape alive after the Battle of Sedgemoor. Defoe supported William III working for him as his official pamphleteer.

When the Tories came to power, these being very severe with dissenters, Defoe wrote his satirical pamphlet "The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters" (1702) in which he was very ironic on religious and political issues, something which reported him big sales but caused big problems too. In 1703 he was prosecuted for libel, arrested and taken to court which allegedly treated him badly, fined him and finally sentenced him to the pillory. This did not prevent him from writing. He wrote the poem "Hymn to the Pillory" (1703) as a way of criticizing his unfair treatment. Later Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, bailed his release in exchange of Defoe working for him as pamphleteer and intelligence agent. After a series of journeys Defoe published Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain. He also managed to release a four-weekly periodical called Review. In this periodical he discussed current affairs dealing with morals manners, religion, etc. this periodical may have influenced later periodicals like The Tatler or The Spectator.

Later years

In 1719 and already with waning health, Defoe wrote perhaps his most famous work, Robinson Crusoe, inspired by the memoirs of the castaway Alexander Selkirk. In 1722 he wrote another novel called Moll Flanders and in 1724 he wrote Roxana.

The rumors about Defoe´s doings had been many, ranging from double-dealing or dishonest conduct to having unpaid debts, being a betrayer by shifting sides (Tories , Whigs) etc, which seemed to provide him with many enemies as well as misfortune and disgrace.

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 == Early life ==
-Daniel Defoe was born circa 1659 in London. His father was a tallow chandler belonging to the so-called groups of Dissenters (separated from the Church of England) and sent his son to study in a so-called Dissenting Academy at Newenton Green kept by Reverend Charles Morton. There Daniel Defoe received an extensive education which boosted his abilities and imagination for writing which was his passion. Although they wanted him to serve the Presbyterian ministry, Defoe refused this and decided to work as merchant. In this period he traveled a lot in trading and making money, something which rewarded him both personally and economically.
+Daniel Defoe was born circa 1659 in London. His father was a tallow chandler belonging to the so-called [[Dissenters]] and sent his son to study at a so-called Dissenting Academy at Newenton Green kept by the Reverend Charles Morton. There Daniel Defoe received an extensive education. Although they wanted him to serve the Presbyterian ministry, Defoe refused this and decided to work as merchant. In this period he traveled a lot in trading.
-During this time, though, he went through a series of setbacks which dampened his morale and affected his later works.In 1692 he went bankrupt due to the losses for insuring ships during the war with France, although he had been honest with his debtors he was reported to be persecuted and pressed nonsensically following imprisonment. This took him away from trading and was a great shock. He married Mary Tuffley in 1684, the daughter of a Dissenting merchant.They were married for 47 years (till Defoe´s death) and they had a total of eight children.
+During this time, he went through a series of setbacks. In 1692 he went bankrupt due to the losses for insuring ships during the war with France, although he had been honest with his debtors he was reported to be persecuted following imprisonment.
+He married Mary Tuffley in 1684, the daughter of a Dissenting merchant. They were married for 47 years (until Defoe´s death) and they had a total of eight children.
 == Turn to politics ==
-Defoe´s interest in politics had been growing the last years so he started to write pamphlets, the first one published dating from 1683. He was reported to have joined the rebellion of the [[Duke of Monmouth]] and managed to escape alive after the Battle of Sedgemoor. Defoe supported [[William III]] working for him as his official pamphleteer. In writing his very famous poem "The True-born Englishman" in 1703 he criticized racial prejudice.
+Defoe´s interest in politics had been growing the last years so he started to write pamphlets, the first one published dating from 1683. He was reported to have joined the rebellion of the [[Duke of Monmouth]] and managed to escape alive after the Battle of Sedgemoor. Defoe supported [[William III]] working for him as his official pamphleteer.
-The second major upset came when the Tories came to power, these being very severe with dissenters, and Defoe wrote one of his most remarkable works called "Shortest-Way with the Dissenters"(1702) in which he was very ironic in religious and political issues, something which reported him big sales but caused big problems too. In 1703 he was prosecuted for libel , arrested and taken to court which allegedly treated him badly, fined him and finally sentenced him to the pillory. This did not prevent him from writing since he wrote the poem "Hymn to the Pillory" (1703) as a way of criticizing his unfair treatment. Later the Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, bailed his release in exchange of Defoe working for him as  pamphleteer and intelligence agent. A series of journeys to Scotland compelled him to write ''Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain''. He also managed to release a four-weekly periodical for a long time called ''Review''. In this periodical he discussed current affairs dealing with morals manners, religion, etc. this periodical may have an influence on the later periodicals like ''The Tatler'' or ''The Spectator''.
+When the Tories came to power, these being very severe with dissenters, Defoe wrote his satirical pamphlet "The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters" (1702) in which he was very ironic on religious and political issues, something which reported him big sales but caused big problems too. In 1703 he was prosecuted for libel, arrested and taken to court which allegedly treated him badly, fined him and finally sentenced him to the pillory. This did not prevent him from writing. He wrote the poem "Hymn to the Pillory" (1703) as a way of criticizing his unfair treatment. Later Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, bailed his release in exchange of Defoe working for him as  pamphleteer and intelligence agent. After a series of journeys Defoe published ''Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain''. He also managed to release a four-weekly periodical called ''Review''. In this periodical he discussed current affairs dealing with morals manners, religion, etc. this periodical may have influenced later periodicals like ''The Tatler'' or ''The Spectator''.
 == Later years ==
-In 1719 and already with waning health, he wrote one of his most remarkable works and perhaps the most famous one, a prose fiction called ''Robinson Crusoe'', inspired by the memoirs of the castway Alexander Selkirk. In 1722 he wrote another  prose fiction novel called ''Moll Flanders'' and in 1724 he wrote ''Roxana''.
+In 1719 and already with waning health, Defoe wrote perhaps his most famous work, ''Robinson Crusoe'', inspired by the memoirs of the castaway Alexander Selkirk. In 1722 he wrote another  novel called ''Moll Flanders'' and in 1724 he wrote ''Roxana''.
 The rumors about Defoe´s doings had been many, ranging from double-dealing or dishonest conduct to having unpaid debts, being a betrayer by shifting sides (Tories , Whigs) etc, which seemed to provide him with many enemies as well as misfortune and disgrace.
-All in all his figure was rendered enigmatic by his life but his works have not remained  unnoticed and he proved an invaluable forerunner of the modern novel.
 == Sources ==
 * http://www.britannica.com
 * http://www.litencyc.com/